Microcosm of London – Plates from Volume I

The slideshow above shows the thirty-two plates from the first volume of Ackermann’s Microcosm of London (1808-10).  The titles of the plates are listed below.  These images are taken from a copy of the Microcosm owned by the Lewis Walpole Library and are used with permission.

If you want to examine one of the images in more detail, right-click on that image and select ‘Open image in new tab’. Hovering over the slideshow will bring up the pause button and buttons to skip to a particular image.

The Microcosm is introduced here and the plates can be seen mapped onto Horwood’s Plan here.

  1. Drawing from Life at the Royal Academy
  2. Exhibition Room, Somerset House
  3. Board Room of the Admiralty
  4. Astley’s Amphitheatre
  5. Dining Hall, Asylum
  6. Christie’s Auction Room
  7. The Great Hall, Bank of England
  8. Bartholomew Fair
  9. Billingsgate Market
  10. The Hall, Blue Coat School (Christ’s Hospital)
  11. Bow Street Office
  12. Pass-Room Bridewell
  13. British Institution, [52] Pall Mall
  14. The Hall and Stair Case, British Museum
  15. The Hall, Carlton House
  16. The Roman Catholic Chapel, [54] Lincoln’s Inn Fields
  17. Coal Exchange
  18. Royal Cock Pit
  19. Water Engine, Cold-Bath-Fields Prison
  20. The College of Physicians
  21. House of Commons
  22. Court of Chancery, Lincoln’s Inn Hall
  23. Court of Common Pleas, Westminster Hall
  24. Court of King’s Bench, Westminster Hall
  25. Court of Exchequer, Westminster Hall
  26. Covent Garden Market, Westminster Election
  27. Covent Garden Theatre
  28. The Long Room, Custom House
  29. Custom House, from the River Thames
  30. Debating Society, [22] Piccadilly
  31. Doctors’ Commons
  32. Drury Lane Theatre